Monday : The weather is on the mend. No overnight rain and no chill in the air. R is even persuaded that she will not require her fleece sweater today. We are going to hire bikes and visit the Orchha Nature Reserve across the narrow bridge over the Betwa River. After a much better, fresh cooked breakfast we are ready to go. The Betwa Retreat's bicycles are not state of the art machines but appear adequate for our needs.
We set off across the bridge in the wake of a bus that should ensure that we don't have to worry about oncoming traffic. At the far side R realises two things. She has forgotten her binoculars and the seat on her bike refuses to stay in place. Back we go across the bridge enjoying the splendid view of the Chhatris. The bike is swapped over. By our third crossing the locals, down at the river to do their laundry and bathe, are starting to talk about us.
The next bit should be written by Franz Kafka but he is not available so you will have to make do. This time we make it to the Nature Reserve ticket office without problems and we buy our entry ticket. Apparently as an afterthought the guy says "Bike 50 rupees, two bike 100 rupees". There is no paperwork for this transaction which makes D a bit suspicious. We are ushered through a gate next to the ticket office. When we mount our bikes we are told "No bike riding". It is indicated that we should leave our bikes and walk around the facility. The only words in English on any of the signs or notices are Orchha Nature Reserve, everything else is in Hindi.
Strange sort of nature reserve. It has mown lawns, a kiddies play area, park benches and a closed cafeteria with a veranda. It's a bit reminiscent of http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasholm_Park in Scarborough, but without the miniature railway or the naval battles. There are no birds to see apart from a few crows in the distance mobbing one of the vultures on a Chhatri spire. We decide that this is not for us and retrieve our bikes before riding further along the main road where we find a gatehouse. The attendant is lying under a tree but opens his eyes long enough to see D waving our ticket. With a subtle flick of his wrist he motions us to proceed under the partly raised barrier, a masterclass in economy of effort.
Next we spot a family of wild pigs just before the dogs do. They race after them and chase one big one which turns to fight, at which point the dogs retreat. The kerfuffle disturbs more peafowl and needless to say it all happens so quickly that there are no worthwhile pictures. We see quite a lot more birds including treepies and a bright yellow woodpecker that flitted across the track. We suspect that without the canine hangers on we might have seen more. We saw not a soul while we were in the forest. Eventually the track came back to the main road where a more enthusiastic gateman asked to see our ticket and then demanded 20 rupees to lift the barrier. No wonder dacoity has gone out of fashion.
We rode back to town and R had an exciting final crossing of the bridge as a bus decided not to wait for her and a motorcycle to clear the spans. D had lagged behind to take photos and waited until the bus had crossed. We decided that we had enjoyed our ride but that enough fun was enough and that we would walk this afternoon.
After an interesting lunch featuring hard boiled egg pakoras we set out to walk to the north end of the Palace island where the Anglo-Aussies had seen the Egyptian vultures. Once we leave the palace complex behind we follow a narrow lane that winds among the fields between the various smaller monuments and temples. We see plenty of birds including a good few braminhy starlings and others that we struggle to identify. Some of these birds have not read the book. Eventually we reach a set of steps leading down to the riverbank. On the far side we see several pied kingfishers just at the feasible limit of photography.
We decide to head home but just as we are about to climb the steps R spots a large bird take off from a ruined building in the forest on the far bank. It does a couple of circuits getting closer each time and we are able to confirm an Egytian vulture. Great spot. We can call it a day now with no regrets. On the way back to Orchha we see a medium size hawk that we cannot identify. The light is not great for a photo but we get a half decent shot. One for the bird forum on India Mike. As we make our way down the main street we are hailed by our auto driver from Saturday night and confirm that he will collect us at 7 a.m. to take us to the station. We settle our bill and the desk man tells us to make sure that we are in the last five bogies on the train as the rest don't go to Khajuraho.
We get scrubbed up and changed into our smart stuff tonight as we are going up to the palace to eat. When we arrive we are the only diners and it stays this way until the Anglo-Aussies arrive and we admire each others layest bird photos. We have tandoori chicken, vegetable pulao and yellow dal, a feast in any body's language. As we walk home through the town we hear a tremendous racket of disco music coming from a side street. Investigation shows it to be a wedding celebration and it appears that most of the populace are in attendance. We lack the hutzpah (and ear defenders) to just stroll in but D takes a couple of pictures at the door.
Just as we get back to the hotel we bag a bonus bird. A pair of small owls are taking it in turns to perch on top of a telegraph pole opposite the entrance. There is just not enough light for a decent photo and it didn't really look like anything in the bird book so a bit of a mystery.
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